Five senior centers serve residents of Gratiot County

Gratiot County has five senior centers serving the community. The centers are located in Alma/St. Louis, Breckenridge, Fulton, Ithaca, and Sumner.

“We were the first senior center in the area and I believe that was 1989,” says Gratiot Community Senior Center Coordinator Jamie Bolsby, who has 14years of experience with the program. “Others kind of sprang up around the area.”

Bolsby explains the name of the center, stating, “They always call us the St. Louis Senior Center and we’re not. We’re the Gratiot County Senior Center.” That slight shift in wording furthers the idea that it holds the key role of all of the centers for Gratiot County.

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“This is the focal point,” says Craig Zeese of the Gratiot County Commission on Aging about the center located in St. Louis, but he also points out the incredible activities available at other centers, such as the one in Ithaca.

“Because of their location, some are more active than others,” says Zeese.

The key centers in Alma/St. Louis, Breckenridge, and Ithaca are open five days a week. The centers in Fulton and Sumner are only open three days a week due to their smaller populations and budgeting reasons, explains Zeese.

But Zeese also explains that “there’s activities taking place at all the sites.” If county residents call the respective senior centers during their normal business hours, they are happy to send you information on all of the variety of events available, says Zeese.

Those events include lunches brought everyday from Ithaca, fundraiser dinners, line dancing, exercise class, and American Legion meetings, says Dean Clark, the post commander of the American Legion in the area.

“We do more bus trips, more active bus trips,” says Bolsby. “A lot of the seniors, they love the boats. They love going to places that they’ve missed.”

Information on upcoming events is included in the centers’ newspaper titled Senior Gratiot, where you can find listings for such events as the Longest Day of the Year Cruise, Friday, June 21, and Mystery Trip??, Thursday, Sept 19, which is a trek where the seniors will have no idea of the intended final destination, getting surprised in the process.

And the trips aren’t as simple as going to the casino in Mt. Pleasant. “If we’re going to go somewhere, we’re going to go,” says Bolsby, explaining that the traveling is part of the fun. Typically that does not mean going out of state though, as the trips are within the confines of one day, but they are to areas throughout the state of Michigan (and occasionally to places outside of the state borders such as Indiana or Chicago).

But one thing that Bolsby and Zeese are particularly interested in stressing for the local community is the Food with Friends Program. “We’d really like more people to come to the lunches,” says Bolsby.

“The numbers are probably a little bit lower than years past,” says Bolsby. “Some of it’s the economy. And when gas went up.”

But Bolsby stresses that the lunches at the center are inexpensive. They ask for a $2.50 donation at the door.

And for seniors who can’t attend, they have meal delivery.

“What we do need is home meal delivery drivers. We sure do need people for that,” Bolsby says. “They do get reimbursed at 50 cents a mile.” Bolsby adds that “some just donate it back to the program.”

People wishing to volunteer for home meal delivery or a variety of other duties can call the senior center in their respective area.

Cathy Nelson, one of the volunteers at Alma/St. Louis, recommends that others in the community get involved with local senior center volunteerism. “It’s just fun. You feel so good,” says Nelson, who has about nine years of experience with the Gratiot County Senior Center. “I volunteer at other places, but this is the place I like to come the most,” says Nelson.

“It’s a wonderful place to volunteer,” said Zeese, “The centers are a wonderful place to meet people.”

But “we are getting cuts,” said Zeese, so volunteerism becomes even more important. Also important are donations. Those interested in making a donation in support of the centers can contact Bolsby at the St. Louis/Alma site or through the Commission on Aging at 515 S. Pine River in Ithaca or via phone at 989-875-5246.

“It’s such a gratification to be able to help,” says Jean McNab, volunteer coordinator and trip coordinator for the Gratiot County Senior Center.

“It’s a great place to be,” said Zeese. “It’s a place where you are welcomed.”